Nokia unveils Lumia 620: Windows Phone 8 on a budget

Nokia has announced the Lumia 620, a new Windows Phone 8 handset that significantly undercuts the Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 that make up the Finns' current WP8 device range.

It's not just cheaper, but smaller too – boasting a 3.8in screen and the kind of styling and colour options that suggest a more youthful focus. Or as Nokia puts it: “the most fun for your money”.

Those colours are fairly predictable Nokia or WP suspects: lime green, orange, cyan, magenta, yellow, black and white, and you can swap them around as much as you like – another Nokia staple on handsets it wants us to think are fun.

And while the screen may be sub-4in in diameter (with 800 x 480 resolution), the profile comes in at a slightly chunky 11.02mm (or fun-size, some might say), while inside you've got a dual-core 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5MP camera that plus a VGA front-facer, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

There's a miserly 8GB of built-in storage, but Nokia has at least fitted a microSD card slot for upping the ante. Fun fun fun.

The Nokia Lumia 620 has been hit with a $249 SIM-free price, before taxes and subsidies. That's just over £150, but it may be a while before that becomes relevant as Nokia is doing its usual “horses for courses” release strategy.

The Lumia 620 will hit Asia, the Middle East and Africa in January, with a wider roll-out to follow. We'll keep you posted.

This looks quite a solid little release, compared to the 820 it has a normal sized screen and although it is TFT screen rather than AMOLED I think the clearblack tech will help with the quality, the resolution is better for the smaller screen as well. Also Windows 8 seems to be quite resorce light so I dont think the lower spec will be that much of an issue

As the 820 is around £399 this would be a bargain at the supposed sub £199 market